6-1 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLI.USCA. 



the bridge at Bideford, in Devonshire, cannot be kept 

 in repair by mortar, owing to the rapidity of the tide. 

 "The corporation, therefore, keep boats to bring mussels 

 to it, and. the interstices of the bridge are filled by hand 

 with these shellfish, and. it is supported, entirely by the 

 strong byssus or threads these mussels fix to the 

 stonework. ,; * 



This byssus proceeds from a gristly shaft, which, 

 Dr. Jeffreys states, appears to support the bundle of 

 filaments like the handle of a broom ; and Aristotle 

 mentions this shellfish in his list of cartilaginous 

 fish. 



So valuable are mussels towards the protection of the 

 shores from the inundations of the sea on some parts 

 of our coasts, that it becomes necessary to prevent their 

 being gathered in some places (see ' Times/ August 7th, 

 1865). An action for trespass was brought some time 

 a^o for the purpose of establishing the right of the lord 

 of the manor to prevent the inhabitants of Heacham 

 from taking mussels from the seashore. The locality 

 is the foreshore of the sea, running from Lynn in a 

 north-westerly direction towards Hunstanton, Norfolk j 

 and " the nature of the shore is such that it requires 

 constant attention, and no little expenditure of money, 

 to maintain its integrity, and guard against the serious 

 danger of inundations of the sea." A large quantity 

 of shingle, seaweed, and mussels is always to be seen, 

 and beds of mussels extend for miles along the shore, 

 and mix with the seaweed and shingle, which get fixed 

 on the artificial jetties running into the sea, attaching 

 themselves by means of the byssus to these embanking 

 defences, thereby rendering them firm, and thus acting 



* ' Glimpses of Ocean Life,' p. 179. 



